


Day 23: Christmas Time is Here

by Hapkido9061



Series: 25 Cliché Days of Christmas [23]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Chenmin, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, XiuChen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 21:49:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17129354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hapkido9061/pseuds/Hapkido9061
Summary: “Dae, what’d you do? ...Oh damn!”“I think I might have landed on a pear.”Or...Where Jongdae has to work the Christmas day shift with his coworker Minseok. He never was known for his gracefulness, showing Minseok just how painful twisting an ankle after tripping on nothing can be.





	Day 23: Christmas Time is Here

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is late again tonight, I was pretty busy with all my last minute shopping (so many people...)

Jongdae shoved the door of the corner grocery store open with a huff. The bell jingled as the door slammed back against the frame, but he couldn’t find himself to care that much. Out of everyone that could work on Christmas day, he and some other boy were the only two free. It wasn’t his fault his family was on a cruise without him and couldn’t celebrate on the 25th.

He went back to the employee’s break room and threw his backpack to the table. The other person wasn’t there yet, but Jongdae was sure they would be best friends by the end of the eight hour shift (insert a sarcastic tone that had Jongdae rolling his eyes). He tied the uniform’s apron on behind his back and adjusted the neck strap.

Once out in the front of the store, Jongdae scanned his badge to sign into his shift. He unlocked the cash register and counted through the bills and coins to make sure he had enough for the day. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting a single other soul to walk into the store minus his coworker.

There wasn’t much to do outside of play on his phone and stock the extra loads of noodles that came in yesterday. An Asian food store in the middle of USA really has little to do in the middle of Christmas. Jongdae walked up and down the aisles for a good thirty minutes just to count the number of shrimp flavored ramens versus the number of spicy. Unsurprisingly, more were spicy than shrimp. Jongdae was amazed.

The door finally jingled and Jongdae rushed to his post at the register counter. Looking at the person, it was only the other boy working. Jongdae vaguely recognized his sharp cat-like eyes and chubby cheeks but had no clue what his name was. The man gave a small smile and went into the break room.

Jongdae was timing the clock with his phone to see if it was accurate (it was) and if he could balance fifty pennies on top of each other at the same time (he could). The other worker came back out and waved to Jongdae.

“I don’t think we’ve ever actually spoken. I’m Minseok.”

“Jongdae,” he responded. He thought that was the end of the conversation but it seems that Minseok was more talkative than he initially thought. Not that he was complaining, Jongdae was the most chatty person he knew second only to Baekhyun.

“So how’d Mrs. Choi con you into working today?”

Jongdae sighed, flicking over the tower of pennies. The crashed onto the floor and both Minseok and Jongdae bent over to pick them up. “I told her my family is out of town. And that ended me here. You?”

“She’s my aunt. I was promised an extra present at Christmas,” Minseok said. He laughed under his breath, and Jongdae joined in.

“That was enough to get you to do it?” Minseok nodded as he poured the handful of pennies back into the register’s drawer. “Damn, you must love her a lot.”

“Nah, I love Macklemore tickets more.”

Jongdae agreed and shut the register. Him and Minseok fell into a comfortable conversation over meaningless topics. It was nice, and Jongdae actually found himself enjoying the other’s presence. They moved on from relaxing at the register to restocking more small items after a single customer came in to buy taro roots.

Minseok was at the freezer and Jongdae in an aisle filled with fresh veggies when the latter turned too quickly on his heel. Jongdae was closer to the tower of cabbages and pears than he thought he was and knocked over the entire stand. He yelped as his ankle twisted beneath his body and the produce. Jongdae held onto his ankle as Minseok rushed over.

“Dae, what’d you do?” Minseok asked, wiping his hands on his apron with his eyes down. “Oh damn!”

“I think I might have landed on a pear.”

He reached under his body and pulled out a half squished pear with juices leaking out. Jongdae wanted to stand up on his own but found he couldn’t from his ankle. As he placed the pear aside, Jongdae sheepishly looked up to Minseok with an outstretched hand. The elder helped him up, nudging away two of the cabbages with his foot so Jongdae wouldn’t trip.

“How bad is it?”

Jongdae assessed his injury by placing a bit of weight on his foot. The pain that shot up his leg had him gritting his teeth together so not to make a loud noise. Minseok clutched onto Jongdae tighter, leading him into the small break room.

“This hurts. A lot.” Jongdae sat back in the chair, trying not to move his ankle at all.

“I’ll grab some ice.”

When Minseok went out to grab something cold to put on his ankle, Jongdae pulled his phone out and shot a text to his roommate. Junmyeon would help him get home or to set up the couch if he needed. Junmyeon was so like a mom that Jongdae couldn’t help but laugh sometimes.

Minseok came back in with a bag of frozen bean buns, a roll of bandages, and a towel in hand. “They didn’t have any ice packs in the first aid kit so this will have to do…” Minseok trailed off as he tossed the bag to Jongdae. He caught it with ease as Minseok unfolded the towel. He wrapped the bag and placed it on the swelling area.

They sat together for some twenty odd minutes as Jongdae iced his ankle. The door was left open to make sure no customers wandered in and found nobody in the shop. It wasn’t likely but there was always the chance.

“How is it?”

Jongdae removed the frozen bean buns and looked down. His ankle was already a dark reddish purple and swollen twice the size it normally should be. They sucked in identical breaths as Minseok grabbed the roll of bandages. He began to wrap it with a practiced ease.

Jongdae raised an eyebrow. “Are you a doctor?”

“I’ve played soccer for years. I’ve had my experience with more than one sprained ankle,” Minseok said good naturedly. “Hate to tell you, but this is a nasty one. I’ll take you over to the emergency room if you want.”

“What about the shop?”

“I’ll clean up the pears and cabbages, make sure only the non squished ones are left,” Jongdae blushed at rubbed the back of his neck, “then I can drive you there.”

“Thanks, Minseok,” Jongdae said once the ankle was completely wrapped. “So I guess I’ll just…”

“Sit here and wallow in the embarrassment of how you got hurt while I clean up? Sounds good?”

Jongdae blushed again and remained silent as Minseok undid his apron and hung it on the hook. Hopefully, Minseok’s aunt wouldn’t mind them closing up early. It was a legitimate reason to, after all.

Minseok came back in and helped get the apron off Jongdae. Even if his face was burning up, Jongdae would never admit that to Minseok. His hands were cold, they weren’t soft and warm as they helped Jongdae up and into his car.

And this was still a bad Christmas. Not a good one, even if Minseok gave Jongdae his number to keep him updated on the injury.


End file.
